Published in The Denver Post, Denver, Colorado, October 12, 2003. Expired link: http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E73%257E1690164,00.html
Here is the original letter with their relevant edits shown. (The Denver Post made some small edits for clarity that are not indicated here.)
Yes, reduce stress [Deleted original title: Initiative 101 is Good Preventive Defense]
As a military scientist I support Denver’s Initiative 101, “Safety through Peace”, because it requires Denver’s leaders to investigate scientifically validated, cost-saving programs to reduce individual and collective stress. Stress ultimately leads to social problems like crime, terrorism and war. [Deleted: One such stress-reducing program is the Invincible Defense Technology (IDT) which uses the Transcendental Meditation (TM) and TM-Sidhi program. IDT has been extensively studied and field-tested. Lt. Gen. Villamil, a former Ecuadorian Vice-Minister of Defense, used IDT to end Ecuador’s war with Peru. Maj. Gen. Israni, editor of Combat Journal, argued that IDT could have prevented the 9/11/01 attacks.]
When collective stress builds up to high levels, violence erupts. On the international level, this leads to war and terrorism. On the local level, this stress results in social problems, such as homicides, unemployment, and illness. Reduce Denver’s collective stress, and the stress-related problems will be reduced measurably: expect lower murder, hospital admission and unemployment rates. [Deleted: It is not necessary to read a mountain of research to grasp the concept of collective stress reduction. It is common sense: people who are not stressed out are not likely to murder or suffer severe illness. It’s that simple.]
[Deleted: Dr.] David R. Leffler
[Deleted: InvincibleMilitary.org]
Wappingers Falls, N.Y.
